Citing the future : the legacy of Patrick Hanks

This contribution starts and ends with the work of Patrick Hanks (1940-2024), the forerunner of GenAI in lexicography, as well as the most impactful practical and theoretical lexicographer going into the future. Patrick Hanks, in other words, has most literally been ‘citing the future’ for many decades preceding that future. Following a preamble in which I look back to look forward, I take his Festschrift as a starting point, presented to him when he turned 70, and move on to his voluminous International Handbook of Modern Lexis and Lexicography, completed halfway upon his death. Next, and as a case study, I employ a sample of 100 articles from the field of ‘GenAI in lexicography’ to first chart the sample’s evaluations of earlier work. I then proceed by looking at (1) the languages studied in the sample, (2) the related academic disciplines that come into play, (3) the topics covered, (4) the perceived usefulness of ‘GenAI in lexicography’, (5) the AI tools used or discussed, and (6) the dictionary slots given attention. Based on all of this, the article concludes with the true impact of Patrick Hanks on GenAI in lexicography, both in academic terms (spanning a period of 40 years: from the COBUILD project in 1983 to the widespread utilisation of ChatGPT as of 2023) and personal terms (spanning a period of 35 years: from Ken Church in 1989 to G-M de Schryver in 2024).